Introduction to Game DesignJoshua Wong

NUS Games Development Group

What is a game?◦ Mechanics & Metaphor◦ Conceptualization exercise

What is game design?◦ Case study: Rollo◦ Design Exercise #2

What is fun?◦ Two approaches◦ MDA framework◦ Other game design principles

Paper prototyping

Topics Covered

Are these games?

What is a game?

Chess Soccer

What about these?

What is a game?

SolitaireRoulette

Many things we call games:◦ Board & card games (eg. Chess, Blackjack)◦ Party games (eg. Bingo, Charades)◦ Sports (eg. Football, Basketball)◦ Gambling (eg. Poker, Roulette)◦ Video games (eg. MapleStory, DoTA, Sims)

What is a game?

But some things are not so clear… Are these games?

What is a game?

Playing house 100m at the Olympic Games

What about these?

What is a game?

Playing the stock market

Gameshows

Common elements of all games:◦ Players◦ Rules◦ Actions & Consequences (Interaction)◦ Obstacles / Conflict◦ Outcome (Win/Lose/Score)◦ “not real”

What is a game?

No complete definition. Here’s one:

“A game is a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules, that

results in a quantifiable outcome.”

(Katie Salen & Eric Zimmerman, Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals, MIT Press: 2004)

What is a game?

Games can be thought of as comprising two layers:◦ Mechanics: How the game works/functions◦ Metaphor: How the game is represented

Mechanic & Metaphor

Same mechanic,

different metaphor

Same metaphor,

different mechanic

Mario Kart

Super Mario Bros

Burnout Paradise

Core mechanic:◦ The action / set of actions that the player will do

over and over in the game. E.g. Aim-and-shoot (FPS) Run and jump (Platformer) Line up 3 items of the same colour (Match-3 games)

Metaphor◦ How the game world / system is represented◦ Gives meaning to player’s actions in game◦ Should try to match the mechanics closely

Mechanic & Metaphor

When first brainstorming / conceptualizing games, you can approach from 2 directions:

1. Think of a fun mechanic and then envision the experiences / player role which would allow the player to use that mechanic in various ways.

2. Think of a fun experience / player role (metaphor), and come up with the various mechanics that will support the player’s experience.

Mechanic & Metaphor

Exercise 1: Mechanic -> Metaphor◦ Choose one of the action verbs below and create

a game around it. Explain the player’s role and world:

Spin Float Connect

Exercise 2: Metaphor -> Mechanic◦ Choose one of the following experiences and

create a game around it. Explain the core mechanics.

Parenthood Scuba-diving Cheerleading

Exercise: Conceptualizing a Game

“The focus of a game designer is designing game play, conceiving and designing rules and structures that result in an experience

for players.”

(Katie Salen & Eric Zimmerman, Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals, MIT Press: 2004)

What is game design?

What are the different tasks a game designer does?◦ World design◦ Level design◦ Content design◦ Systems design◦ User Interface design

What is game design?

World design: Lays out game’s background, setting, overarching plot, major characters, primary gameplay

Usually done by Lead Designers with lots of experience

What is game design?

Complete world prototype for Shadow Complex: http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2009/10/13/exclusive-shadow-complex-prototype-map-revealed/

High-level game concept: The Lost World http://www.daniellecheah.com/2008/02/imagine-cup-france-2008.html

Level design: Maps out levels, places enemies, resources, obstacles, player spawn points, triggers, puzzles.

Level design from Duke Nukem Forever - Incubator Ship Invasion level (http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/features/46978/Duke-Nukem-Forever-Development-Documents)

What is game design?

Content design: Plans and fleshes out game environment with detailed gameplay content. (e.g. quests, equipment, items, characters, events, dialogue)

What is game design?

(Top image: WoW quest screenshot taken from:http://www.squarefree.com/categories/games/)

(Left image: ProgressQuest character sheet taken from: http://hexdsl.wordpress.com/)

Systems design: Figures out how a particular game system will work. (eg. combat – controls, triggers, damage, statistics, turns, speed, charged powers…)

What is game design?

Wargame combat table: http://victorypointgames.com/articleDetail.php?article_ID=96&page=1

http://codehelper.org/game-design/video-game-design-video-game-mechanics-part-iii/

User Interface / Usability design: Figures out how to make the game easier or more friendly for users to interact with. (eg. control buttons, icons, screen layout, menus…)

What is game design?

http://dragonica.thqice.com/control_interface.html

http://taehok.com/night/?page_id=64

Summary of design jobs:World Design Level DesignContent Design Systems DesignUser Interface Design

Game design for small projects (like yours): All of the above!

What is game design?

Case Study: Rollo

http://nusgdg.org/?page_id=12

Based on your game concept:◦ Design a system◦ Design some content◦ Design the user interface◦ Design a level

Design Exercises #2

“Game designers have a weird job. At root, it is their responsibility to ensure that a game

is fun to play. The problem with being a game designer is "fun" is an extremely

relative term.”

(Ken Levine – “So You Wanna Be a Game Designer”)

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6129276/p-2.html

What is fun?

Two main schools of thought:1. A game’s fun comes from the enjoyment of

problem-solving. Flow theory Choices & consequences Risk vs. reward

2. A game’s fun comes from a combination of different types of fun, in different proportions.

Callois’ categories of games MDA Framework 4 Fun Keys (XEO design)

What is fun?

The MDA framework:◦Mechanics: The rules and concepts that

formally specify the game-as-system.◦Dynamics: The run-time behavior of the

game-as-system.◦Aesthetics: The desirable emotional

responses evoked by the game dynamics.

What is fun?

Mechanics AestheticsDynamics

Slide presentation ideas borrowed from: http://algorithmancy.8kindsoffun.com/GDC2007/index.html

What the player sees:

How the designer works:

What is fun?

Mechanics AestheticsDynamics

Mechanics AestheticsDynamics

Player

Designer

Slide presentation ideas borrowed from: http://algorithmancy.8kindsoffun.com/GDC2007/index.html

Eight kinds of fun:◦ Sensation Game as art object◦ Fantasy Game as make-believe◦ Narrative Game as unfolding story◦ Challenge Game as obstacle course◦ Fellowship Game as social framework◦ Discovery Game as uncharted territory◦ Expression Game as soapbox◦ Submission Game as mindless pasttime

What is fun?

Hunicke, Leblanc& Zubek (2004) http://www.8kindsoffun.com/

Examples of games:◦ The Sims is “fun”:

Fantasy, Expression, Narrative◦ DotA is “fun”:

Challenge, Fellowship, Discovery, Fantasy ◦ Roulette is “fun”:

Submission, Sensation◦ H.A.L.O. is “fun”:

Challenge, Sensation, Fellowship, Discovery, Fantasy, Narrative.

What is fun?

Flow theory◦ When player’s skill level = challenge difficulty

level, players can enter into the ‘flow’ state.◦ If challenge is much

higher than player’s skill, player will feelanxiety.

◦ If challenge is muchlower than player’sskill, player will feel boredom/relaxation.

Other Game Design Principles

Choice & Consequence:

“According to Sid Meier, a [good] game is a series of interesting choices. In an interesting choice, no single option is clearly better than the other options, the options are not equally attractive, and the player must be able to make an informed choice.”

(Rollings, Andrew and Dave Morris. Game Architecture and Design. 2000)

◦ Consequences of choices should be clear◦ Consequences of choices should be different◦ Consequences of choices should be balanced

Other Game Design Principles

Risk versus Reward:◦ Risk should be matched against reward.◦ High risk action = high reward◦ Low risk action = low reward

This also works the other way around:◦ High reward for player = high risk◦ Low reward for player = low risk

Other Game Design Principles

Any questions?

Break

Game Development Process

Design

Build Test / Analyze

Iterative Design Process: The Game Design Cycle

Build a prototype of your gameplay on paper, before you touch any code.

The point is to find the fun as quickly and cheaply as possible (or to discover it is not as fun as you thought it would be).

Fail Early. Fail Often. Fail Faster. Fail Sooner.

Paper Prototyping